Still Standing Strong

Main menu

Monthly Archives: October 2014

Post navigation

Tabetha Jones contradicts herself so many times that it’s impossible to believe anything she says. Here are just a few examples, taken from her own statements within the last few days alone.

First, she has an attorney:
And then she doesn’t:

First, her contracts are legal and binding, but then they had to be reworked.
So, which is it? Were they “legal and binding” or not?

The answer is NOT.

Even with the assistance of an attorney (which she, by her own admission, she does not have), no contract she produces is legal. Even if the wording were iron-clad (which it’s not. We’ll address that later), her contract still wouldn’t be legal. If the company producing the contract is illegal, said company’s contracts are not legal, either, whether it’s a publishing company or photo business. Make no mistake. For all the bluster and plethora of mentions of nonexistent attorneys, those contracts aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.

Back to the topic of Tabetha contradicting herself. First, she insists that “there no high termination fee” for leaving her company:Then she brags about how a former author’s (ex) husband had to pay that author’s termination fee because it was too high for the author to afford on her own:
So, not only does she contradict herself about those fees, she doesn’t hesitate to post a former author’s personal business online. So much for that release form.

Authors, I hope you’re watching. Tabetha Jones contradicts herself more often than she changes underwear. If she bothers to wear any. These contradictions were taken from a single conversation. There are dozens, if hot hundreds more over the course of the past few years. Just read back through the history of this blog to educate yourself.

I think it’s a good time to remind you to practice due diligence. We’re all here because we’ve dealt with Tabetha Jones in some way or another. Whether it’s as an author, artist, model, or whatever else, we’ve all suffered from the path of destruction she leaves in the lives of anybody unfortunate enough to deal with her..

It’s well and good for me to write blogs warning folks about her questionable business practices, but there’s only so much I can do. It’s you as the author, artist or model that has to be vigilant about protecting yourself and your work. Your’e the one that’s got to make sure that the work you’ve already done isn’t still being used, and you’re the one that has to take steps to make sure it isn’t used again in the future.

We’ve already seen that Tabetha obtains copies of books from Smashwords, and that’s where all these resales are coming from. It’s up to each and every one of you to go on Smashwords and make them stop selling copies of your work so that she can’t resell them anywhere. It’s up to you to go to Ingram and make them take down any current or previous versions of your book and republish it yourself, listing yourself as the only seller. That way, she can’t sneak copies behind your back and resell them the way is being done now. It’s up to you to demand that any work you’ve contributed to anthologies is removed.

Same thing goes for models. She might have you thinking that even though you’ve realized what she is and left her company (in more ways than one), but it’s not true. She might brag left and right about how you (your photo) will grace the covers of her future work, bringing her characters to life, rubbing it in your face because there’s nothing you can do about it. Not true. You can put a stop to it.

Remember, her company doesn’t exist legally, so neither do her contracts.

If you, as a model, signed some contract with her and took pictures, she might be holding the contract over your head, gloating and using your name, even though you’re done and finished with her. But that CONTRACT IS NOT LEGAL. Therefore, it’s not legally binding. You can demand your pictures back. ALL OF THEM. And make sure she knows that if she uses them, you will sue her ass off, and you will report her to the FBI for the piracy of your intellectual property.

It’s well and good to sit around and complain about a bitch that ripped you off. But it’s up to you to make sure she doesn’t keep doing it.

It’s up to you to turn her in to the FBI for pirating your material.

Whether you’re an author, artist, or model, demand your work back from her. Refuse her permission to use it, and tell her to stuff that contract up her ass. Might be a tight fit with her head shoved up there, but that’s her problem. None of her contracts are legally binding. Demand that all of your past or current work is removed and make sure she’s unable to use it in the future. Protect yourself and stop that thief from using your work to put money in her pockets.

I’m happy to give you a place to vent. It’s my pleasure to support and encourage you. But I cannot do it for you.

Hey everybody, this is RL Smith, I just wanted to make a quick post about my new children’s book series-ABBY’S ADVENTURES. The first book is called Butterflies in My Belly, about a little girl scared to go to school on the first day.

This is the first book I’ve published since Love vs Blood with Phoenix Fire Publishing. I do not recommend publishing with them. Looking back now, my book was not edited, my cover was blurred and the whole process was very unprofessional plus I was ripped off. I thought my dreams of becoming a writer were shattered. I got out as soon as I could, with a price. I had to pay to publish and pay to leave only to find out all of the contracts were bogus.

Since I’ve been on my own, I’ve started the children’s series, book two will be Abby’s Christmas and I also have a paranormal book which should be out by the end of this year titled Legend of Castle Rock, a story about a small country town in WV with a slight werewolf problem.

Feel free to stop by and check out the following links to my book and author page. I’d love to hear from you.

There’s been a tug of war going on about a shady publisher continuing to sell former authors’ work. We’ve talked a lot about Amazon and Ingram, but we might have left a few spots out.

Consider Smashwords.
I’ve heard more than one former MP/PF author say that they’ve caught their former publisher continuing to sell their work on Smashwords. They’ve gotten proof of it. And you can do the same. Have a look at Smashwords to see if your title is still being sold there by your former publisher. If it is, ask Smashwords to provide you with proof. They’ll be happy to. And with that proof, you can turn your former publisher in to the FBI for pirating your work. Piracy of an author’s work is a federal offense.

Don’t be shy about turning her in. She wasn’t shy about stealing your money.

Same thing with Goodreads. Find out if your work has been sold there without your knowledge or consent, too. Get proof of it from the good folks at Goodreads, and do the same thing with it: Turn it over to the FBI. Same thing with Ebay and Amazon.

And Amazon, and Ebay. Never mind if it’s some “third party” name on the listing, The money goes to your publisher just the same, and you’re not seeing a dime of it.

Don’t let a thief keep putting your money in her pocket.

After you’ve gotten your proof and turned it over to the FBI, it’s important that you take away her power to further victimize you.

Yank your work. Un-publish it. Have it removed from Smashwords, Goodreads, Ebay, and Amazon once and for all. And anywhere else you can think of. Then do the one thing that will forever prevent her from selling your work again:

PUBLISH IT YOURSELF.

If you publish your book yourself, nobody else can touch it. Createspace makes it simple to publish your own work. They walk you through it step by step.
One thing I suggest is that you change your cover art. Fresh release, fresh start. There are TONS of affordable cover artists that can do your book justice, or you can use stock free images and do it yourself.
There’s an added benefit to changing your cover. Not only do you get a fresh start, but you can also tell at a glance if somebody’s trying to sell the previous version of your book. 😉

Something else I STRONGLY suggest is that if Tabetha Jones has been anywhere near your book, HIRE AN EDITOR. Her lack of morality is equaled only by her lack of editing skills. Just look at any book that’s got her name anywhere near it.
Get your work properly worked on before you present it to the public. It might be painful, and it might be costly, but it’s worth it. And be sure to make sure that whoever works on your book is qualified. Your buddies might have the best of intentions and be more than willing to help, but that doesn’t qualify them to edit a book. Everybody from Stephen King on down has their books edited. And there’s a reason for it. An author is too close to the work. An editor can look at a book objectively and pay attention strictly to the task at hand.
It’s your reputation on the line, folks. Spend the money and take the time to make sure that you’e presenting the best quality of work possible.

Once you’ve published it yourself, nobody else can access it on Ingram, and if you make sure Amazon has you on record as the only person that can sell your book, NOBODY call sell your work but you.

It’s a short checklist, but it’s important.
1) Get proof.
2) Turn her in.
3) Publish your own work.

I joined Phoenix Fire Publishing in the spring/summer of 2013. In August of last year, Tabetha Jones told me about how she had just begun writing erotica under the alias Emerald Rai, explaining how she had to do that to keep the peace at home. She said Zoey Sweete was getting too many stalkers as it was. I told her I don’t know how she does it with all the aliases and she commented, “I just wake up and ask myself who i want to be that day i guess lol.” Maybe that should have been a clue.

I really didn’t start having too many problems with her at first. I did notice that I wasn’t making any money, but I figured I didn’t have any book sales. But then again I was in 4 anthologies and didn’t see anything from those books, either. Tabetha had asked the authors if we would all give permission for the sales from Beautiful Disasters to go to a woman’s group for abused women. She never did tell us the name of the organization, but did tell us how well the book was selling.

In May, I was going to release a book of my own. I turned the manuscript in to Tabetha, who said that Jacqueline would be doing the editing. A month later, I asked Jacqueline if she had a chance to look it over and she said Tabetha had not sent it to her. I sent a copy of it to Jacqueline myself and then I had to indent the entire book (I didn’t know it was supposed to be indented) and I only had a few days to do it.

When it was all finished, I sent Tab the edited document but she said she didn’t get it. Apparently when I sent to her, it was sent Word Online and not Word Document. My Microsoft word had expired and I could only do it Word Online. I figured she could change it over for me, but no. Then she told me Jacqueline had already indented the manuscript and said that I went back behind her and did it again, which made no sense at all. I edited my copy of the manuscript and sent it to Jacqueline, who in turn changed it over to Word Doc for me. Jacqueline said it was no biggie.

Tabetha complained, saying that she now had to reformat the entire thing because I jacked it up by sending it in the wrong format. I had no idea what she was talking about. Jacqueline and I had it all under control.

Jacqueline informed me that she would be doing my release party. I asked what happened to Tabetha. Tabetha contacted me and said it is not her responsibility to do everything. And that she is busy with lawyers incorporating PF. So the release ended up being postponed and I told her I would just take time and make some changes.

Then Jacqueline, Cindy and Sabrina left PF. There was a lot of talk and gossip going on. To the point I didn’t want to see it or deal with it every time I got on Fb, so I deleted anyone that was book, author or publishing related off of my personal FB page. But kept them on my author’s FB. Tabetha sent me a message wanting to know why I was now friends with JT Larson. Because she sent me a friend request, that’s why.

Tabetha said a fan of mine told her that JT was on both of my fb pages. Well this fan was misinformed because JT was never on my personal fb.

Starting about that time, I was also told that an anonymous message was going around to authors saying that FAITH BLOOM CANNOT BE TRUSTED. I told Tab I was tired of all of the backstabbing and gossip and I didnt want to personally talk to anyone anymore. She said “Well if you feel that way, I will send you your swag and we wont do a party, because how can you not talk to your fans?”
I told her I didnt know I had any fans since I havent been making any money from my books. In 13 months I made $14 and had done 2 radio blog shows. And those were done recently and only because I complained.PF is all about the supernatural and half naked bodies. It doesn’t feel like a family with everyone backstabbing and gossiping and there is no promoting going on. Tab said I was too negative to get anywhere. The fact is, though, t hat my poetry book sold better than hers did.She then told me I was in breech of contract because I befriended JT. Tabetha demanded to know if I was with her or against her.

Then a former author of PF, Bill Jensen, posted a letter on his page that he had written to send to his attorney concerning Tabetha and PF. He asked other authors if it read ok. I made a correction on it, noting that he written the title of the book in question wrong. I mean, if you are going to send a letter to your attorney, you want to make sure your facts are straight. Because of this, Tabetha told me she made an executive decision and was letting me go from PF. She sent me a release form via email for me to electronically sign, which really made no difference since it isn’t legal in the first place.

Tabetha insisted I was making comments and talking to people associated with the world of books from my PERSONAL fb page. No, I was not. There was no one on there that is an author, publisher, artist, anything of the sort. She told me to be a woman and tell her what is going on. She was pissed I had people on my authors fb page that had just recently left PF. I asked her why should I unfriend because SHE had problems with them. I pointed out that I dont bash her on Lepps blog, but she gets on there and belittles herself all the time. I haven’t publicly said anything bad about the company or herself.
She basically said it didn’t matter, she was letting me go.
She said with the way Jacqueline and I were gettng along, she figured I was leaving too. Basically because of the friends on my facebook and that I didnt unfriend them as soon as she did, she thought I was a spy.

Tabetha told me sorry for the misunderstanding but she felt it had to be done and if I ever need editing or a walk thru to let her know. AND SHE APOLOGIZED for being wrong about me and said Jacqueline told her I was jumping ship. Regardless, Tab said she could mentor me and help me if I ever need it.

Then in October I asked Tabetha about getting a message to Luna. I had paid Tab for some swag back in April that Luna was supposed to do for me, and I never received it. Tab said that that beings I get advice from JT, that it is not her responsibility to contact anyone for me anymore. It’s not her problem. Tab said I need to contact Luna myself. I’ve tried but no response. And it is her responsibility when she’s the one I gave the money to.Tab said she has people watching JT’s sites and she will not associate with anyone that talks to JT. I told Tab I am not in the middle of her drama and surprisingly I DONT GIVE A SHIT. I just want her to do her job. And…..nothing. As usual. So much for the offer to help me out. She cant even do her job. I paid her the money for my swag, not Luna. So she should be held responsible for getting it back to me.

All of this has given me a sour taste in my mouth for publishers and companies. This is my first go around at writing and dealing with publishers and now I am hesitant to work with another one. This has been one big trip to Romper Room. It’s been very childish and I do believe Tabetha needs help. She is not right in her head and she tells more lies than she can keep up with.

Here are screen caps from the conversation, in case she tries to say I’m lying.

And here’s my contract. If you see where it sasy anywhere that she can drop me just because she wants to because I’m talking to somebody she doesn’t like let me know because I don’t see it.

PHOENIX FIRE PUBLISHINGPUBLISHING CONTRACT

This publishing agreement is entered into and effective on the date signed by both parties, initialized between Faith Bloom_ herein known as Author and Phoenix Fire Publishing herein known as publisher, concerning work presently known as Relentless and Dysfunctional,pending titles_ herein called the work.

The contract is considered legal and binding in all countries. If there should be any legal dispute the laws of the state of Texas shall apply.

Author Warranties:

The Author hereby represents and warrants to the Publisher the following:

She/He (they are) is the Author and sole owner of the work, or has been assigned exclusive rights to the work.

The work is original and no part of the work was taken or based on any other literary, dramatic, musical, film, or graphic arts, except as identified in the writing by the Author.

The work does not infringe upon any copyright, privacy rights, rights of a third party, or any common law or stator law.

The work is not the public domain and has not been published in any format with any company that may still own the rights to the work.

The Author holds the power of Authority to grant these rights.

If the work has been previously published in whole or part, the Author currently holds all copyrights to the work and is legally permitted to enter this agreement.

The Author releases Publisher from any responsibilities relating to any legal actions incurred by the contents of the work or the Author.

Author agrees to hold Publisher harmless and indemnify the Publisher against any claim, demand, action, suit, proceeding or any expense whatsoever, arising for claims of infringement of copyright of proprietary rights, or claims of libel, obscenity, invasion of privacy, or any other unlawfulness based upon or arising from the publication or any matter pertaining to the work.

Author warrants that they will not hereafter enter into any agreement or understanding with any person or entity that would conflict with the rights granted to the Publisher during the term of this contract.

Should this title be part of a series, Author guarantees Publisher first option on the rest of the series or on any title in which the characters appear.

If Publisher requests rewrites of the Author, Author guarantees prompt responses to all correspondence either electronic or paper. If a rewrite deadline is give and Author does not acknowledge the deadline within 3 days or keep the deadline this contract may be terminated.

Grantor of Rights:

The Author on behalf of himself/herself and his or her heirs executors, administrators, successors, and assignees, agrees to grant the Publisher exclusive rights to produce and sell the work in print and electronic format(including email, download, disk, CD, or any other digital format known or to be invented).

The Author may request their book to be put into POD (Print on Demand) at the author’s expense. Author agrees to pay printing cost to the publisher prior to the publisher submitting and ordering the work to be printed.

The Createspace fee is $37.50 which includes; ISBN, Expanded Distribution, and one proof copy (per title). This payment can be split into two payments, as long it is taken care of 3 weeks prior to release date. We will work with you anyway we can.

The Cover Art Fee of $15.00-$40.00(depending on artist) which will be paid immediately upon cover completion. Phoenix Fire Publishing will then transfer money directly to the cover artist. While some artists wish to be paid directly.

The Publisher will provide Phoenix Fire approved editors and pay for all editing services. If the Author does not want the Phoenix Fire editors to provide the editing services then the Author will be fully responsible to pay for and provide their own editing for their manuscript.

The Author agrees to cooperate with the editor, design team, and to meet all deadlines set by the editor, design team and the Publisher.

Terms of Contract:

All rights will be exclusive for 1-2 years from the publication date of the manuscript. At the end of the contract term it may be renewed for an additional 1-2 years if both parties are in agreement. If the Author wishes the contract to continue Author needs to contract Publisher in writing at least 30 days prior to the expiration of the contract. No additional fees will be assessed unless Author would like an updated cover.

The Publisher holds the rights to set the price of the work put said work on sale, lower the price of the work if it is not selling copies. If the title has not sold any copies in 1 month the Publisher will automatically lower the price of the book. If at the end of 3 months no copies have sold the Publisher has the right to remove the work and void this contract at which time all rights would revert to the Author.

Upon breach of contract, the contract may be terminated by either party with a 30 day written notice. Notification of breach and intention to terminate the contract is to be delivered by certified mail, email, or other receipted delivery service. If breaching party corrects breach within 30 days the contract shall continue to remain in place until its natural expiration. Upon expiration of the contract term all rights granted to the Publisher will revert back to the Author when the release form and slander disclaimer is signed and returned.

Author may petition the Publisher to terminate the contract at any time during the term of the contract but it will cost the Author $350.00 for editing and formatting, which is not limited to PR, book trailers, swag gifts, and any additional work the Publisher may have done. This will be the total fee to terminate the contract before the two years has ended.

Royalties and Statements:

Publisher and Author will mutually set the retail price of the work based on length and comparable works. Publisher agrees to pay the Author a royalty of 50% of the retail E Book price. Publisher agrees to pay 60% royalty of the retail print price.

Royalties shall be calculated and paid no later than 45 days following the end of each calendar quarter for sales during that quarter. Royalties shall be paid by either money order or PayPal.

No royalty shall be paid on paper or digital copies distributed for review, advertising, publicity, promotional purpose, samples, or other similar purposes, or on copies sold below or at cost.

If Author has elected to grant Publisher the right to contract various distributors and outlets, royalties will be paid to Author contingent on payment received from distributor. In most cases distributors pay Publishers every sixty days to ninety days for sales through their channels during those time frames.

The Author is responsible for paying taxes on all royalty payments received from Publisher and is advised to keep accurate records for tax purposes.

Manuscript Preparation:

Author shall provide an acceptable final revision of the manuscript in Microsoft Word within the time agreed upon or this contract will be void. Publisher will not be held liable for lost manuscripts. Author should always keep a backup copy.

Marketing and Promotion:

The Author shall provide the Publisher with bio information, photo, and suggested blurb for use on all Publisher’s social sites. Author agrees to give Publisher the right to use Author’s name, likeness, title of work, for publishing, advertising, and promoting the work. Publisher reserves the right to edit or rewrite the blurb submitted by Author.

If the cover artist provided by Phoenix Fire is not of the quality the author prefers they will be responsible for any additional costs and Phoenix Fire must approve of the cover art before the work is to be in print. If the Author has their own cover art it must be copyright free and Phoenix Fire must approve of the final cover. Art must have receipts of purchase off stock sites or permission from artist they gained cover art from.

Author agrees to self-promote the work to the best of their ability. If Author has a social site they may use the first 10 pages of the work to post on the site or sites to give away teasers to promote the work provided it includes a link to Phoenix Fire.

Publisher will send out the work for review to no less than 3 review sites. Author may request a review copy in ebook format. Authors are encouraged to solicit reviews along with the Publisher. For added promotional purposes, Publisher and Authors agree to notify each other as to what review sites submissions have been made. If Author refuses to participate in reviews, interviews, or any sort of promotion that immediately puts the Author in breach of contract.

Publisher can provide discounted copies to Author for signings and promotions at Author’s cost and have them shipped directly to the Author.

Publisher agrees to provide Author with marketing and pr services and guidance to the best of their ability. This includes pre release reviews, interviews, book trailers, and blog spots.

Author can request custom swag by Publisher but will be responsible for the cost of materials, no labor cost will be added. Cost of supplies is $25.00- $35.00 (depending on supply items costs. This includes; custom charm bookmarks, bookmarks, and some custom necklaces. Phoenix Fire will also donate swag prizes including bookmarks, jewelry when available, one paperback for party and 5×7 or 8×10 posters. Size is up to the Author. Material costs can be invoiced through PayPal and once made shipped directly to Author. Publisher can do these swag projects only requiring the cost of the supplies to be covered or seek out a custom designer for them; which the Author will be responsible for the cost of supplies and labor. Phoenix has found it cheaper on the Author to do the work and have the author pay for supplies.

Author agrees to keep some sort of social site available for promotion. An Author or Book Facebook page will be sufficient.

Assignment:

Phoenix Fire Publishing may at any time sell itself, or majority of itself, its holdings, or licenses. Current contracts would transfer to the new owner.

Bankruptcy: If Phoenix Fire is legally judged bankrupt or liquidates its business this contract shall be terminated effectively and all rights granted to Phoenix Fire shall be terminated.

Entire Agreement:

This contract hereby constitutes the entire agreement between the Author and Publisher and supersedes all previous agreements regarding the work whether oral or in writing. Modification of this contract may only occur in writing signed by both parties.

Title of Work: _Relentless and Dysfunctional_____

I know this is long but I wanted to show exactly what happened between Tabetha Jones, Phoenix Fire publishing and me.

Any and all authors that currently have work published with Tabetha Jones and Phoenix Fire publishing need to be aware of the fact that their Kindle titles are listed with Phoenix Fire as the publisher, but the paperbacks appear with Amazon services as the publisher.

That means that from the look of things, Tabetha Jones has published all of those books under her own personal account and she’s too cheap to pay the 30 bucks per title to list PF as the publisher for the hard copies.

Authors, CHECK YOUR TITLES. If your book is listed as being published under Amazon (including digital and createspace) services, while you contracted to have your books published by Phoenix Fire publishing, TAKE ACTION. If she published your book under her own personal account, she’s breached your contract in every way there is. If she published your work under her personal account, make sure she isn’t claiming your work as her own by doing so. Demand that she pull your title, consider suing her for damages, and turn her in to the FBI for piracy.

It’s coming to my attention that more and more models are cutting ties with Tabetha Jones and Phoenix Fire publishing due to either inappropriate behavior on her part or a dawning awareness of her lack of professionalism in business practices and/or experience in the field of photography. In short, they’re catching on, too. Just like the authors.

Yet, even though the models have cut ties with her, Tabetha throws their names out in association with her and her company, acting as if there’s nothing they can do about it because she’s already got the pictures. She thinks she can use the pictures, and the models’ names, because of whatever contract they signed and there’s nothing they can do but eat it.

Not true.

Just like the authors Tabetha screws over with her illegal company, the models can take their work and walk away. PHOENIX FIRE PUBLISHING IS NOT A LEGAL COMPANY. That means that their CONTRACTS DO NOT LEGALLY EXIST.

Models, if Phoenix Fire publishing is not the sort of (illegal) company with which you want yourself, your image or your reputation associated, you are not legally or morally obligated to let her use any images you don’t want her to. She does not own them, or any rights to use them. You can demand them back and refuse to let her print them on her books, her social media or her websites. It’s your image and your reputation. You don’t have to let them be sullied by an association with the likes of Tabetha Jones. Tell her not to use them, and if she does it anyway, report her for pirating your intellectual property, theft, and anything else you can think of

You can tear up your contract. Turn it into confetti or make paper planes, if you wish. Maybe use it for kindling.

Walk away. Save yourself.

If you know any of the models she uses, please feel free to share this link with them so that they can find out that they don’t have to be her victims any more than the authors do. Let’s help the models too, the way we’ve come together to help authors.